Methods and systems for enabling community-tested security features for legacy applications

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for enabling community-tested security features for legacy applications may include: 1) identifying a plurality of client systems, 2) identifying a legacy application on a client system within the plurality of client systems, 3) identifying a security-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application, 4) enabling at least one security feature for the legacy application by executing the security-feature-enablement rule, 5) determining the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy application, and then 6) relaying the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy application to a server. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

Consumers and businesses frequently rely on legacy applications. Legacyapplications may be time-tested, inexpensive, and may provide acontinuity of experience or workflow. However, legacy applications maynot be updated to take advantage of new features on the systems on whichthey run. This may include new security features that may preventsecurity exploits in the legacy applications, such as heap corruption.

Even if new security features are enabled for legacy applications, thesecurity features might interfere with the functionality or stability ofthe applications. While an application vendor may test each new securityfeature for each legacy application offered by the vendor, this mayprove to be a costly burden.

SUMMARY

The instant disclosure is directed to methods and systems for enablingcommunity-tested security features for legacy applications. Variousembodiments describe a client module on a plurality of computingdevices, a server module on a server, and interactions between them. Aswill be described in greater detail below, these modules may be used toretroactively enable security features for legacy applications and totest whether the introduction of these new security features negativelyimpacts the stability, performance, or functionality (collectively,“health”) of the legacy application. In one example, the system mayfirst test a security feature or combination of security features for alegacy application across a subset of users that have opted in for earlytesting of security features prior to enabling the security featureswithin the entire community of users. If the new security features donot negatively impact the health of legacy applications on systemswithin the subset of users, then the system may initiate a stagedroll-out of the security features to an increasing number of userswithin the community.

For example, the client module described above may be programmed to: 1)identify startup of a legacy application on a client system, 2) identifya security-feature-enablement rule (received, for example, from aserver) for the legacy application, and then 3) enable at least onesecurity feature for the legacy application by executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule. In one embodiment, thesecurity-feature-enablement rule may enable a security feature orcombination of security features for a particular legacy application.

After executing the security-feature-enablement rule, the client modulemay then determine the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule onthe health of the legacy application. In some embodiments, the clientmodule may determine the impact of the security-feature-enablement ruleby: 1) performing a first application-health evaluation (to determine,for example, the performance or stability of the legacy application)before executing the security-feature-enablement rule, 2) performing asecond application-health evaluation after executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, and then 3) comparing the first andsecond application-health evaluations. After determining the impact ofthe security-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacyapplication, the client module may relay information that identifiesthis impact to a server.

In another embodiment, a server module may be programmed to: 1) identifya community of users using the client module, 2) identify a subset ofusers within the community that have opted in to early testing ofsecurity features for legacy applications, and then 3) transmit asecurity-feature-enablement rule to at least one client system in thesubset. The server module may then receive health-impact informationfrom at least one of the client systems in the subset that identifiesthe impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on the health of alegacy application on the client system. The server module may thenanalyze this health impact information to determine whether to initiatea staged roll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule to theremainder of the users within the community. For example, if the servermodule determines, based on the health-impact information received fromthe subset of users, that the security-feature-enablement rule does notnegatively impact application health, then the server module may beginto deploy the security-feature-enablement rule to the broader communityin a staged fashion.

If, either before or after initiating the staged roll-out, the servermodule receives health-impact information that indicates that thesecurity-feature-enablement rule negatively impacted the health of thelegacy application on at least one client system, the server module maythen abort the staged roll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule.

Features from any of the above-mentioned embodiments may be used incombination with one another in accordance with the general principlesdescribed herein. Embodiments of the present disclosure may providevarious advantages over prior technologies. For example, the methodsdescribed herein may allow users to run their legacy applications withnew security features that might otherwise not be enabled. Furtheradvantages may accrue to security vendors, who may use this method totest new security features on legacy applications at less expense thanotherwise. These and other embodiments, features, and advantages will bemore fully understood upon reading the following detailed description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of exemplary embodimentsand are a part of the specification. Together with the followingdescription, these drawings demonstrate and explain various principlesof the instant disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for enablingcommunity-tested security features for legacy applications

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an exemplary computer-implemented method forenabling community-tested security features for legacy applications.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the results of exemplary healthevaluations that may be performed according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary computer-implemented method forenabling community-tested security features for legacy applicationsaccording to an additional embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing network capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptionsindicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While theexemplary embodiments described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detailherein. However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, theinstant disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide various methods andsystems for enabling community-tested security features for legacyapplications. As previously mentioned, a server may direct certainsubsets of clients to test certain security features and later roll outthese settings to the entire community of clients. Accompanying drawingsillustrate methods and systems for accomplishing this. FIG. 1 shows aserver connected to a plurality of clients across a network. FIG. 2shows steps that may be performed by a client module existing on theclients. FIG. 4 shows steps that may be performed by a server moduleexisting on the server.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 for enablingcommunity-tested security features for legacy applications. Asillustrated in this figure, exemplary system 100 may comprise a server130 in communication with a plurality of client systems 140 via anetwork 120.

Client systems 140 (consisting of clients 110(1) through 110(Y))generally represent any type or form of client-side computing device.Examples of client systems 140 include, without limitation, laptops,desktops, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs),multimedia players, embedded systems, combinations of one or more of thesame, exemplary computing system 510 in FIG. 5, or any other suitablecomputing device. Similarly, server 130 generally represents any type orform of centralized of server-side computing device

Network 120 generally represents any medium or architecture capable offacilitating communication or data transfer. Examples of network 120include, without limitation, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), alocal area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), the Internet,power line communications (PLC), a cellular network (e.g., GSM network),exemplary network architecture 550 in FIG. 5, or the like. Network 120may facilitate communication or data transfer using wireless or wiredconnections. In one embodiment, network 120 may facilitate communicationbetween server 130 and client systems 140, consisting of clients 110(1)through 110(Y).

In one example, a server module may be installed on server 130.Similarly, a client module may be installed on each of clients 110(1)through 110(Y). These modules may represent any module, application, orother computer-executable code capable of performing one or more of thesteps disclosed herein. In addition, one or more of these modules may beshared between server 130 and clients 110(1) through 110(Y), meaningthat the same module may be configured to operate simultaneously onseparate devices for a single purpose.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an exemplary client-side method 200 forenabling community-tested security features for legacy applications. Asillustrated in this figure, at step 202 a client-side module mayidentify a legacy application on a client system. For example, a clientmodule stored and configured to run on client 110(1) in FIG. 1 mayidentify a legacy application on client 110(1).

The client module may perform step 202 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the client module may create, or have access to, a list oflegacy applications on the client system. In an additional example, theclient module may inspect an application on its startup and determinethat the application is a legacy application by referring to a list, byanalyzing application metadata, or by requesting information from aserver.

At step 204, the client module may identify asecurity-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application. Forexample, a client module on client 110(1) in FIG. 1 may identify asecurity-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application identifiedin step 202. As detailed above; a security-feature-enablement rule mayrepresent any type or form of file, module, or other computer-readableinstruction for enabling a security feature, or combination of securityfeatures, for a particular legacy application. Examples of securityfeatures and settings that security-feature-enablement rules may enable,include, without limitation, the ability to revoke rights for aparticular legacy application (by, for example, specifying a list ofrights that the legacy application will never use), the ability toterminate a process upon heap corruption for a particular legacyapplication, or any other security feature.

The client module may perform step 204 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the client module (which may, as detailed above, be stored andconfigured to run on one of client systems 140 in FIG. 1) may receivethe security-feature-enablement rule from a server, such as server 130in FIG. 1. In an additional embodiment, the client module may identifyone or more security-feature-enablement rules stored or loaded onto theclient system. In this example, the client module may, upon identifyingthe legacy application, identify at least onesecurity-feature-enablement rule stored on the client system that isassociated with the legacy application.

At step 206, the client module may enable at least one security featurefor the legacy application by executing the security-feature-enablementrule. For example, a client module on client 110(1) in FIG. 1 may enablea security feature for the legacy application identified in step 202 byexecuting the security-feature-enablement rule identified in step 204.

The client module may perform step 206 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the client module might inject an instruction into the legacyapplication's code that enables a security feature available on theclient system. For example, the client system might use MICROSOFT VISTAas an operating system, and the security-feature-enablement rule mightenable heap corruption termination for a legacy application. In thisexample, the client module might inject the HeapSetInformation functioninto the legacy application code on startup to cause the legacyapplication to enable heap corruption termination.

In an additional example, the client module may enable the securityfeature for the legacy application by: 1) identifying startup of thelegacy application, 2) retrieving a security configuration for thelegacy application, and then 3) enabling a security feature in thesecurity configuration, as specified by the security-feature-enablementrule

At step 208, the client module may determine whether thesecurity-feature-enablement rule impacted the health of the legacyapplication. In other words, the client module may determine whether theenabled security feature negatively impacted the stability, performance,or functionality of the legacy application. For example, if, in theprevious example, the legacy application had a benign error that causedtemporary heap corruption, enabling heap corruption termination mightrender the legacy application unusable. In this example, the clientmodule may determine that the security-feature-enablement rulenegatively impacted the health of the legacy application.

The client module may perform step 208 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the client module may determine whether thesecurity-feature-enablement rule negatively impacted the health of thelegacy application by: 1) performing a first application-healthevaluation before executing the security-feature-enablement rule, 2)performing a second application-health evaluation after executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, and then 3) comparing the first andsecond application-health evaluations to determine whether thesecurity-feature-enablement rule impacted the health of the application.

The phrase “application-health evaluation,” as used herein, generallyrefers to any type or form of evaluation used to determine the health ofan application. Examples of application-health evaluations include,without limitation, performance evaluations (which may measure theperformance of various aspects of an application, such as memory usage,CPU usage, and page faults) and stability evaluations (which may measurethe stability of an application by determining, for example, the numberof errors encountered by an application). An illustration of the resultsof two such application-health evaluations is provided in FIG. 3. Asillustrated in this figure, first and second application-healthevaluations 300 and 320 may comprise stability indexes 302 and 322 andperformance indexes 312 and 332.

In certain embodiments, stability indexes 302 and 322 may comprise aplurality of stability metrics 304 and 324 and results 306 and 326 foreach of these metrics. Stability metrics 304 and 324 generally representany type or form of metric that may be used to measure the stability ofan application. Examples of values that stability metrics may measureinclude, without limitation, operating-system errors (such asblue-screen errors), application errors (such as application hangs orfreezes), service errors, device-driver errors, system uptime, andsystem reboots (such as the number of system reboots per day). In theexamples provided in FIG. 3, stability indexes 302 and 322 detail theaverage number of blue-screen errors identified by the client moduleduring the evaluation period, the average number of service errorsidentified, and the average number of application errors identified. Insome embodiments, one or more of these errors may be caused by thesecurity-feature-enablement rule executed in step 206.

As with stability indexes 302 and 322, performance indexes 312 and 332may comprise a plurality of performance metrics 314 and 334 and results316 and 336 for each of these metrics. Performance metrics 314 and 334generally represent any type or form of metric that may be used tomeasure the performance of an application. Examples of values thatperformance metrics may measure include, without limitation. CPU usage,page faults, network usage, and memory usage. As illustrated in FIG. 3,the results 306, 316, 326, and 336 of stability metrics 304 and 324 andperformance metrics 314 and 334 may be represented using runningaverages, maximum or peak values, incremental count values, or any othersuitable method. In the example provided in FIG. 3, performance indexes312 and 332 detail the application's maximum and average CPU usageduring the evaluation period, the maximum and average number of pagefaults caused by the application during the evaluation period, and themaximum and average number of IP datagrams sent and received by theapplication during the evaluation period.

As detailed above, the client module may determine whether thesecurity-feature-enablement rule impacted the health of the applicationby comparing the first and second application-health evaluations. Forexample, the client module may compare the results of first healthevaluation 300 in FIG. 3 with the results of second health evaluation320 to determine whether the security feature (or combination ofsecurity features) enabled by the security-feature-enablement rule forthe legacy application negatively impacted the health of the legacyapplication.

The impact of an enabled security feature on the health of a legacyapplication may be expressed or quantified in a variety of ways. Incertain embodiments, one or more health-impact scores, such ashealth-impact scores 340 in FIG. 3, may be calculated based on theresults of first health evaluation 300 and second health evaluation 320.As illustrated in FIG. 3, health-impact scores 340 may represent theimpact an enabled or injected security feature has on the stability (asrepresented by the results contained in stability-impact table 342) andperformance (as represented by the results contained inperformance-impact table 346) of a legacy application installed on aclient system. For example, the results in stability-impact table 342may demonstrate whether there has been a percentage increase inblue-screen errors, service errors, and/or application errors subsequentto enabling the security feature (or combination of security features)for the legacy application. Similarly, the results in performance-impacttable 346 may demonstrate whether there has been a percentage increasein CPU usage, memory usage, page faults, and/or network usage subsequentto enabling the security feature.

For example, the results contained in stability-impact table 342 in FIG.3 demonstrate that there has been a 50% increase in the average numberof service and application-related errors experienced by the systemsubsequent to enabling the security feature. Similarly, the resultscontained in performance-impact table 346 demonstrate that there hasbeen a significant increase in average CPU usage (78.22.6%), maximum CPUusage (87.9130%), average number of page faults (74.1440%), maximumnumber of page faults (75.3433%), and maximum number of IP datagrams(11.1111%) subsequent to enabling the security feature.

In at least one embodiment, an average stability-impact score may becalculated for the enabled security feature by averaging the resultscontained in stability-impact table 342 (which, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3, results in an average stability-impact score of−33.3333%). Similarly, an average performance-impact score for theenabled security feature may be calculated by averaging the resultscontained in performance-impact table 346 (which, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3 results in an average performance-impact score of−55.5109%). An overall health-impact score for the enabled securityfeature may then be calculated by averaging the average stability-impactscore with the average performance-impact score (which, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3, results in an overall health-impact score of−44.4421%).

Returning to FIG. 2, at step 210 the client module may relay informationthat identifies the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule onthe health of the legacy application to a server. For example, a clientmodule stored on client system 110(1) in FIG. 1 may transmit informationto server 130 that is relevant to assessing how the security feature(s)enabled by the security-feature-enablement rule executed in step 206affected the performance and/or functionality of the legacy application.In some examples, this information, also referred to herein as“health-impact information,” may represent or be based on health-impactscores, such as health-impact scores 340 in FIG. 3. Upon completion ofstep 210 in FIG. 2, exemplary method 200 may terminate.

As detailed above, the potential impact of an enabled security featureon the health of a legacy application may be expressed or quantified ina variety of ways. As such, while the health evaluations and resultsillustrated in FIG. 3 have been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, the potential impact of an enabled security feature onthe health of a legacy application may be calculated using any number ofadditional heuristics, formulas, or methods.

In addition, one or more of steps 202-210 in FIG. 2 may be performed bya local system (such as client systems 140 in FIG. 1 and/or computingsystem 510 in FIG. 5), by a remote system (such as server 130 in FIG. 1and/or portions of exemplary network architecture 600 in FIG. 6), or anycombination thereof. For example, a local system, such as client, system110(1) in FIG. 1 and/or computing system 510 in FIG. 5, may determinethe impact of an enabled security feature on the health of a legacyapplication in step 208 by comparing the results of a first healthevaluation with the results of a second health evaluation.

Alternatively, a remote computing device, such as server 130 in FIG. 1and/or portions of exemplary network architecture 600 in FIG. 6, maydetermine the impact of an enabled security feature on the health of alegacy application in step 208 by comparing the results of a firsthealth evaluation with the results of a second health evaluation. Forexample, client system 110(1) in FIG. 1 may transmit the results of thefirst and second health evaluations, along with a checksum or hashcalculated for the legacy application, to server 130 in FIG. 1. In someembodiments, client system 110(1) in FIG. 1 may also send a list toserver 130 that identifies each legacy application on client system110(1). Server 130 may then determine whether the enabled securityfeature impacted the health of the legacy application by comparing theresults of the second health evaluation with the results of the firsthealth evaluation. For example, server 130 may calculate one or morehealth-impact scores, such as health-impact scores 340 in FIG. 3, forthe enabled security feature by comparing the results from the firsthealth evaluation with the results of the second health evaluation.Server 130 may then store the resulting health-impact score or scores ina database.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 2, in certain embodiments the clientmodule may receive an instruction from server 130 in FIG. 1 to disablethe security-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application. Forexample, server 130 might determine, based on health-impact information,that a security-feature-enablement rule is likely to decrease theperformance and/or stability of a legacy application. Server 130 mightthen send an instruction to the client module to disable thesecurity-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application. Uponreceiving the instruction, the client module may disable thesecurity-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application.

In addition, in some embodiments exemplary method 200 in FIG. 2 may alsocomprise identifying a request from a user to opt in to early testing ofsecurity-feature-enablement rules. For example, a client module onclient system 110(1) in FIG. 1 may present a user of client system110(1) with the option of enabling new security features in one or morelegacy applications installed on client system 110(1), with theunderstanding that usage data will be reported to a backend or server,such as server 130 in FIG. 1. As will be described in greater detailbelow, server 130 may analyze this usage data to determine whether toinitiate staged roll-outs of specific security features for legacyapplications to large groups of users.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary server-side method 400 forenabling community-tested security features for legacy applications. Asillustrated in this figure, at step 402 the server module may identify aplurality of client systems. In at least one example, this plurality ofclient systems may represent a set of clients that receivecommunity-tested security features for legacy applications from aserver. For example, a server module stored and configured to run onserver 130 in FIG. 1 may identify a plurality of client systems 140 inFIG. 1, consisting of clients 110(1) through 110(Y), on which the clientmodule described in connection with FIG. 2 has been installed.

The server module may perform step 402 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the server module may access a list of client systems that havethe client module installed, and may load this list into memory. In anadditional example, the server module may receive communications fromclient systems (such as client systems 140 in FIG. 1) that identify theclient systems as having the client module described above installed.

At step 404, the server module may identify a subset of the plurality ofclient systems. In one example, each client system within this subsetmay be designated to test security features for legacy applications. Forexample, a server module on server 130 in FIG. 1 may identify a subset142 of client systems 140, consisting of clients 110(X) through 110(Y).In this example, subset 142 may represent a subset of client systemswithin a community that has been designated to test security featuresfor legacy applications before or as part of a staged roll-out. Forexample, in some embodiments a user of a client system may opt in toearly testing of security features, as detailed above. In this example,the client system of this user would then belong to subset 142. Thissubset may represent as few as 0.1% of all users within a community thathave elected to receive security-feature-enablement rules from a server.

The server module may perform step 404 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the server module may access a list of client systems that haveopted in to early testing of security features. In an additionalexample, the server module may receive communications from clientsystems (such as client systems 140 in FIG. 1) that identify the clientsystems as having opted in to early testing of security features.

At step 406, the server module may transmit asecurity-feature-enablement rule to at least one client system in thesubset identified in step 404. For example, a server module stored onserver 130 in FIG. 1 may send an instruction to at least one clientsystem within subset 142 to enable a particular security feature orcombination of security features for a particular legacy application.

The server module may perform step 406 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the server module may access a network interface card on server130 in FIG. 1 and transmit a security-feature-enablement rule acrossnetwork 120 to a client (such as client 110(X)) within subset 142.

In a different example, the server module may transmit the rule to theclient system by transmitting the rule to a second server. For example,server 130 may transmit a security-feature-enablement rule to a secondserver. The second server may then modify a security update file for theclient system to include the security-feature-enablement rule. Thesecond server may then transmit the security update file to the clientsystem via network 120.

After transmitting the security-feature-enablement rule to the clientsystem in the subset, at step 408 the server module may receivehealth-impact information from the client system that identifies theimpact of the security-feature-enablement rule on the health of a legacyapplication on the client system. In other words, the server module mayreceive information from the client system that indicates whether thesecurity-feature-enablement rule destabilized or otherwise harmed theperformance of the legacy application. For example, the server modulemay receive a health-impact score (such as health-impact scores 340 inFIG. 3) of −10% from the client module, indicating that the health ofthe legacy application decreased after enabling the security feature.The server module might also receive a crash report for the legacyapplication or another type of error report (such as the results ofapplication-health evaluations 300 and 320 in FIG. 3) that indicatesreduced functionality or performance for the legacy application orclient system.

In one embodiment, the server module may aggregate and store thehealth-impact information it receives in step 408. For example, theserver module may calculate and store a health-impact score for asecurity-feature-enablement rule based on health-impact informationreceived from the subset of client systems. In one example, the servermodule may store this health-impact score as a running average.

At step 410, the server module may then determine, based on thehealth-impact information received in step 408, whether to roll out thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to additional client systems. In otherwords, if the health-impact information received in step 408 does notindicate negative effects (for example, if the server receives ahealth-impact score for the security feature from at least one clientsystem that indicates that the security feature did not negativelyimpact the health of the legacy application), the server module maydetermine to roll out the security-feature-enablement rule to additionalclient systems within the plurality of client systems identified in step402.

The server module may perform step 410 in a variety of ways. In oneexample, the server module may receive health-impact information from asingle client system (such as client 110(X) within subset 142) thatindicates that the security-feature-enablement rule did not have anegative effect on the legacy application. In this example, the servermodule may determine to roll out the security-feature-enablement rule toa larger subset of client systems within client systems 140.

In another example, the server module may receive health-impactinformation from a plurality of client systems within the subsetidentified in step 404. For example, server 130 may receivehealth-impact information from each of clients 110(X) through 110(Y) insubset 142. In this example, the server module may determine whether, onaverage, the security-feature-enablement rule negatively impacted thehealth of legacy applications on the clients within subset 142. Forexample, the server module may calculate, based on the health-impactinformation received from clients within subset 142, an averagehealth-impact score for the security-feature-enablement rule. In thisexample, the server module may determine to roll out thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to the remainder of client systems 140if the average health-impact score indicates that, on average, thesecurity-feature-enablement rule did not significantly negatively impactthe heath of legacy applications on clients within subset 142.

In a further embodiment, the server module may initiate a stagedroll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule to additional clientsystems if the server module determines that thesecurity-feature-enablement rule did not negatively impact the health oflegacy applications on client systems within subset 142. As previouslymentioned; a staged roll-out may represent an incrementally widerdistribution of the security-feature-enablement rule. For example, ifthe health-impact information received from the subset of client systemsindicates that the security-feature-enablement rule did not have anegative impact on the health of the legacy application, then the servermay gradually widen the set of client systems that receive thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, all the while continually receivingand monitoring health-impact information from these additional clientsystems. For example, the server may roll out thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to an increasingly larger subset ofclient systems within the community, starting, for example, with 1% ofits users and gradually increasing to 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 50%, andeventually 100% of the community.

As long as the server continues to receive health-impact informationthat indicates that the security-feature-enablement rule does notnegatively impact the health of the legacy application, the server maycontinue to gradually roll out the security-feature enablement rule.However, if the server receives health-impact information that indicatesthat the security-feature-enablement rule is significantly negativelyimpacting the health of the legacy application, then the server mayabort the staged roll-out. For example, as detailed above, the servermodule may generate a running-average health-impact score for asecurity-feature-enablement rule based on health-impact informationreceived from client systems within the community. If the server moduledetermines, upon rolling out the security-feature-enablement rule to alarger subset of users, that this health-impact score drops unacceptably(for example, if the health-impact score for asecurity-feature-enablement rule drops from 0 to −55%), then the servermodule may abort the staged roll-out.

As detailed above, the systems and methods described herein may enablesecurity vendors to easily test security features for legacyapplications. By rolling out security features on a staged basis,security vendors may safely test the impact of security features on thehealth of legacy applications within a small subset of users prior todistributing the security features to the entire community.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 510 capableof implementing one or more of the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein computing system 510 broadly represents any single ormulti-processor computing device or system capable of executingcomputer-readable instructions. Examples of computing system 510include, without limitation, workstations, laptops, client-sideterminals, servers, distributed computing systems, handheld devices, orany other computing system or device. In its most basic configuration,computing system 510 may comprise at least one processor 514 and systemmemory 516.

Processor 514 generally represents any type or form of processing unitcapable of processing data or interpreting and executing instructions.In certain embodiments, Processor 514 may receive instructions from asoftware application or module. These instructions may cause processor514 to perform the functions of one or more of the exemplary embodimentsdescribed and/or illustrated herein. For example, processor 514 mayperform and/or be a means for performing, either alone or in combinationwith other elements, one or more of the identifying, executing,enabling, determining, relaying, performing, comparing, allowing,transmitting, receiving, disabling, retrieving, initiating, aborting,and/or increasing steps described herein. processor 514 may also performand/or be a means for performing any other steps, methods, or processesdescribed and/or illustrated herein.

System memory 516 generally represents any type or form of volatile ornon-volatile storage device or medium capable of storing data and/orother computer-readable instructions. Examples of system memory 516include, without limitation, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, or any other suitable memory device.Although not required, in certain embodiments computing system 510 maycomprise both a volatile memory unit (such as, for example, systemmemory 516) and a non-volatile storage device (such as, for example,primary storage device 532, as described in detail below).

In certain embodiments, exemplary computing system 510 may also compriseone or more components or elements in addition to processor 514 andsystem memory 516. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, computingsystem 510 may comprise a memory controller 518, an input/output (I/O)controller 520, and a communication interface 522, each of which may beinterconnected via a communication infrastructure 512. Communicationinfrastructure 512 generally represents any type or form ofinfrastructure capable of facilitating communication between one or morecomponents of a computing device. Examples of communicationinfrastructure 512 include, without limitation, a communication bus(such as an ISA, PCI, PCIe, or similar bus) and a network.

Memory controller 518 generally represents any type or form of devicecapable of handling memory or data or controlling communication betweenone or more components of computing system 510. For example, in certainembodiments, memory controller 518 may control communication betweenprocessor 514, system memory 516, and I/O controller 520 viacommunication infrastructure 512. In certain embodiments, memorycontroller 518 may perform and/or is a means for performing, eitheralone or in combination with other elements, one or more of the steps orfeatures described and/or illustrated herein, such as identifying,executing, enabling, determining, relaying, performing, comparing,allowing, transmitting, receiving, disabling, retrieving, initiating,aborting, and/or increasing.

I/O controller 520 generally represents any type or form of modulecapable of coordinating and/or controlling the input and outputfunctions of a computing device. For example, in certain embodiments I/Ocontroller 520 may control or facilitate transfer of data between one ormore elements of computing system 510; such as processor 514, systemmemory 516, communication interface 522, display adapter 526, inputinterface 530, and storage interface 534. I/O controller 520 may beused, for example, to perform and/or be a means for identifying,enabling, determining, relaying, performing, comparing, allowing,transmitting, receiving, disabling, retrieving, executing, initiating,aborting, and/or increasing steps described herein. I/O controller 520may also be used to perform and/or be a means for performing other stepsand features set forth in the instant disclosure.

Communication interface 522 broadly represents any type or form ofcommunication device or adapter capable of facilitating communicationbetween exemplary computing system 510 and one or more additionaldevices. For example, in certain embodiments, communication interface522 may facilitate communication between computing system 510 and aprivate or public network comprising additional computing systems.Examples of communication interface 522 include, without limitation, awired network interface (such as a network interlace card), a wirelessnetwork interface (such as a wireless network interface card), a modem,and any other suitable interface. In at least one embodiment,communication interface 522 may provide a direct connection to a remoteserver via a direct link to a network, such as the internet.Communication interface 522 may also indirectly provide such aconnection through, for example, a local area network (such as anEthernet network or a wireless IEEE 802.11 network), a personal areanetwork (such as a BLUETOOTH or IEEE Standard 802.15.1-2002 network), atelephone or cable network, a cellular telephone connection, a satellitedata connection, or any other suitable connection.

In certain embodiments, communication interface 522 may also represent ahost adapter configured to facilitate communication between computingsystem 510 and one or more additional network or storage devices via anexternal bus or communications channel. Examples of host adaptersinclude, without limitation, SCSI host adapters, USB host adapters, IEEE1394 host adapters, SATA and eSATA host adapters, ATA and PATA hostadapters, Fibre Channel interface adapters, Ethernet adapters, or thelike. Communication interface 522 may also allow computing system 510 toengage in distributed or remote computing. For example, communicationinterface 522 may receive instructions from a remote device or sendinstructions to a remote device for execution. In certain embodiments,communication interface 522 may perform and/or be a means forperforming, either alone or in combination with other elements, one ormore of the identifying, enabling, determining, relaying, performing,comparing, allowing, transmitting, receiving, disabling, executing,retrieving, initiating, aborting, and/or increasing steps disclosedherein. Communication interface 522 may also be used to perform and/orbe a means for performing other steps and features set forth in theinstant disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, computing system 510 may also comprise atleast one display device 524 coupled to communication infrastructure 512via a display adapter 526. Display device 524 generally represents anytype or form of device capable of visually displaying informationforwarded by display adapter 526. Similarly, display adapter 526generally represents any type or form of device configured to forwardgraphics, text, and other data from communication infrastructure 512 (orfrom a frame buffer, as known in the art) for display on display device524.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, exemplary computing system 510 may alsocomprise at least one input device 528 coupled to communicationinfrastructure 512 via an input interface 530. Input device 528generally represents any type or form of input device capable ofproviding input, either computer or human generated, to exemplarycomputing system 510. Examples of input device 528 include, withoutlimitation, a keyboard, a pointing device, a speech recognition device,or any other input device. In at least one embodiment, input device 528may perform and/or be a means for performing, either alone or incombination with other elements, one or more of the identifying,enabling, determining, relaying, performing, comparing, executing,allowing, transmitting, receiving, disabling, retrieving, initiating,aborting, and/or increasing steps disclosed herein. Input device 528 mayalso be used to perform and/or be a means for performing other steps andfeatures set forth in the instant disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, exemplary computing system 510 may alsocomprise a primary storage device 532 and a backup storage device 533coupled to communication infrastructure 512 via a storage interface 534.Storage devices 532 and 533 generally represent any type or form ofstorage device or medium capable of storing data and/or othercomputer-readable instructions. For example, storage devices 532 and 533may be a magnetic disk drive (e.g., a so-called hard drive), a floppydisk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a flash drive,or the like. Storage interface 534 generally represents any type or formof interlace or device for transferring data between storage devices 532and 533 and other components of computing system 510.

In certain embodiments, storage devices 532 and 533 may be configured toread from and/or write to a removable storage unit configured to storecomputer software, data, or other computer-readable information.Examples of suitable removable storage units include, withoutlimitation, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical disk, a flashmemory device, or the like. Storage devices 532 and 533 may alsocomprise other similar structures or devices for allowing computersoftware, data, or other computer-readable instructions to be loadedinto computing system 510. For example, storage devices 532 and 533 maybe configured to read and write software, data, or othercomputer-readable information. Storage devices 532 and 533 may also be apart of computing system 510 or may be a separate device accessedthrough other interlace systems.

Storage devices 532 and 533 may also be used, for example, to performand/or be a means for performing, either alone or in combination withother elements, one or more of the identifying, identifying, enabling,determining, relaying, performing, comparing, allowing, transmitting,executing, receiving, disabling, retrieving, initiating, aborting,and/or increasing steps disclosed herein. Storage devices 532 and 533may also be used to perform and/or be a means for performing other stepsand features set forth in the instant disclosure.

Many other devices or subsystems may be connected to computing system510. Conversely, all of the components and devices illustrated in FIG. 5need not be present to practice the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein. The devices and subsystems referenced above may alsobe interconnected in different ways from that shown in FIG. 5. Computingsystem 510 may also employ any number of software, firmware, and/orhardware configurations. For example, one or more of the exemplaryembodiments disclosed herein may be encoded as a computer program (alsoreferred to as computer software, software applications,computer-readable instructions, or computer control logic) on acomputer-readable medium. The phrase “computer-readable medium”generally refers to any form of device, carrier, or medium capable ofstoring or carrying computer-readable instructions. Examples ofcomputer-readable media include, without limitation, transmission-typemedia, such as carrier waves, and physical media, such asmagnetic-storage media (e.g., hard disk drives and floppy disks),optical-storage media (e.g., CD- or DVD-ROMs), electronic-Storage media(e.g., solid-state drives and flash media), and other distributionsystems.

The computer-readable medium containing the computer program may beloaded into computing system 510. All or a portion of the computerprogram stored on the computer-readable medium may then be stored insystem memory 516 and/or various portions of storage devices 532 and533. When executed by processor 514, a computer program loaded intocomputing system 510 may cause processor 514 to perform and/or be ameans for performing the functions of one or more of the exemplaryembodiments described and/or illustrated herein. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the exemplary embodiments described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented in firmware and/or hardware. Forexample, computing system 510 may be configured as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) adapted to implement one or more ofthe exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary network architecture 600 inwhich client systems 610, 620, and 630 and servers 640 and 645 may becoupled to a network 650. Client systems 610, 620, and 630 generallyrepresent any type or form of computing device or system, such asexemplary computing system 510 in FIG. 5. Similarly, servers 640 and 645generally represent computing devices or systems, such as applicationservers or database servers, configured to provide various databaseservices and/or, to run certain software applications. Network 650generally represents any telecommunication or computer network;including, for example, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a localarea network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), or the internet.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, one or more storage devices 660(1)-(N) may bedirectly attached to server 640. Similarly, one or more storage devices670(1)-(N) may be directly attached to server 645. Storage devices660(1)-(N) and storage devices 670(1)-(N) generally represent any typeor form of storage device or medium capable of storing data and/or othercomputer-readable instructions. In certain embodiments, storage devices660(1)-(N) and storage devices 670(1)-(N) may represent network-attachedstorage (NAS) devices configured to communicate with servers 640 and 645using various protocols, such as NFS, SMB, or CIFS.

Servers 640 and 645 may also be connected to a storage area network(SAN) fabric 680. SAN fabric 680 generally represents any type or formof computer network or architecture capable of facilitatingcommunication between a plurality of storage devices. SAN fabric 680 mayfacilitate communication between servers 640 and 645 and a plurality ofstorage devices 690(1)-(N) and/or an intelligent storage array 695. SANfabric 680 may also facilitate, via network 650 and servers 640 and 645,communication between client systems 610, 620, and 630 and storagedevices 690(1)-(N) and/or intelligent storage array 695 in such a mannerthat devices 690(1)-(N) and array 695 appear as locally attached devicesto client systems 610, 620, and 630. As with storage devices 660(1)-(N)and storage devices 670(1)-(N), storage devices 690(1)-(N) andintelligent storage array 695 generally represent any type or form ofstorage device or medium capable of storing data and/or othercomputer-readable instructions.

In certain embodiments, and with reference to exemplary computing system510 of FIG. 5, a communication interface, such as communicationinterface 522 in FIG. 5, may be used to provide connectivity betweeneach client system 610, 620, and 630 and network 650. Client systems610, 620, and 630 may be able to access information on server 640 or 645using, for example, a web browser or other client software. Suchsoftware may allow client systems 610, 620, and 630 to access datahosted by server 640, server 645, storage devices 660(1)-(N), storagedevices 670(1)-(N), storage devices 690(1)-(N), or intelligent storagearray 695. Although FIG. 6 depicts the use of a network (such as theinternet) for exchanging data, the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein are not limited to the internet or any particularnetwork-based environment.

In at least one embodiment, all or a portion of one or more of theexemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be encoded as a computerprogram and loaded onto and executed by server 640, server 645, storagedevices 660(1)-(N), storage devices 670(1)-(N), storage devices690(1)-(N), intelligent storage array 695, or any combination thereof.All or a portion of one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosedherein may also be encoded as a computer program, stored in server 64Q,run by server 645, and distributed to client systems 610, 620, and 630over network 650. Accordingly, network architecture 600 may performand/or be a means for performing, either alone or in combination withother elements, one or more of the identifying, enabling, determining,relaying, performing, comparing, allowing, transmitting, receiving,disabling, retrieving, initiating, executing, aborting, and/orincreasing steps disclosed herein. Network architecture 600 may also beused to perform and/or be a means for performing other steps andfeatures set forth in the instant disclosure.

As detailed above, computing system 510 and/or one or more of thecomponents of network architecture 600 may perform and/or be a means forperforming, either alone or in combination with other elements, one ormore steps of the exemplary methods described and/or illustrated herein.For example, a computer-implemented method for enabling community-testedsecurity features for legacy applications may comprise identifying aplurality of client systems. The computer system may then identify asubset of the plurality of client systems that is designated to testsecurity features for legacy applications. The computer system may thentransmit a security-feature-enablement rule to at least one clientsystem in the subset. The computer system may subsequently receive, fromthe client system in the subset, health-impact information thatidentifies the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on thehealth of a legacy application on the client system and then determine,based on the health-impact information, whether to roll out thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to the plurality of client systems.

Certain embodiments further comprise determining that thesecurity-feature-enablement rule did not negatively impact the health ofthe legacy application and initiating a staged roll-out of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to the plurality of client systems.Some embodiments further comprise: 1) receiving, from at least oneadditional client system in the plurality of client systems,health-impact information relating to the security-feature-enablementrule, 2) determining that the security-feature-enablement rulenegatively impacted the health of at least one legacy application on theadditional client system, and then 3) aborting the staged roll-out ofthe security-feature-enablement rule. In some further embodiments, thestaged roll-out comprises increasing distribution of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule by increments in multiple stages untilthe distribution encompasses the plurality of client systems.

In at least one further embodiment, a security-feature-enablement rulecomprises a particular combination of security-feature-enablement rules.In some embodiments, health-impact information comprises a performanceindex containing results for at least one performance metric and astability index containing results for at least one stability metric.

According to some embodiments, the computer-implemented method forenabling community-tested security features for legacy applicationscomprises identifying a legacy application on a client system. Thecomputer system may also identify a security-feature-enablement rule forthe legacy application. The computer system may then enable at least onesecurity feature for the legacy application by executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule. The computer system may subsequentlydetermine the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on thehealth of the legacy application. The computer system may then relay theimpact of the security feature on the health of the legacy applicationto a server. In some further embodiments, identifying thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises receiving the securityfeature enablement rule from the server.

By some embodiments, determining the impact of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy applicationcomprises performing a first health evaluation. The computer system maythen execute the security-feature-enablement-rule into the legacyapplication and then perform a second health evaluation. The computersystem may then compare the second health evaluation with the firsthealth evaluation to determine how the security-feature-enablement ruleimpacted the health of the legacy application.

As defined in some embodiments, the method further comprises allowing auser to opt in to early testing of security-feature-enablement rules.According to some embodiments, the computer system may send a list tothe server that identifies each legacy application on the client system.In addition, the security-feature-enablement rule may comprise aparticular combination of security-feature-enablement rules.

In several embodiments, the computer system may receive an instructionfrom the server to disable the security-feature-enablement rule for thelegacy application and then disable the security-feature-enablement rulefor the legacy application. In some embodiments, executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises identifying the legacyapplication at its startup, retrieving the security configuration forthe legacy application, and enabling a security feature in the securityconfiguration, as specified by the security-feature-enablement rule.

While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments usingspecific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagramcomponent, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively,using a wide range of hardware, software, or firmware (or anycombination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure ofcomponents contained within other components should be consideredexemplary in nature since many other architectures can be implemented toachieve the same functionality.

The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/orillustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or describedherein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps donot necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated ordiscussed. The various exemplary methods described and/or illustratedherein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustratedherein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

Furthermore, while various embodiments have been described and/orillustrated herein in the context of fully functional computing systems,one or more of these exemplary embodiments may be distributed as aprogram product in a variety of forms, regardless of the particular typeof computer-readable media used to actually carry out the distribution.The embodiments disclosed herein may also be implemented using softwaremodules that perform certain tasks. These software modules may includescript, batch, or other executable files that may be stored on acomputer-readable storage medium or in a computing system. In someembodiments, these software modules may configure a computing system toperform one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize various aspects of the exemplary embodimentsdescribed herein. This exemplary description is not intended to beexhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the instant disclosure. It is desired that theembodiments described herein be considered in all respects illustrativeand not restrictive and that reference be made to the appended claimsand their equivalents for determining the scope of the instantdisclosure.

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “a” or “an,” as used in thespecification and claims, are to be construed as meaning “at least oneof.” In addition, for case of use, the words “including” and “having,”as used in the specification and claims, are interchangeable with andhave the same meaning as the word “comprising.”

We claim:
 1. A computer-implemented method for enabling community-testedsecurity features for legacy applications, the method comprising:identifying a legacy application that has yet to be updated to takeadvantage of at least one existing security feature provided by anoperating system on which the legacy application is installed;identifying a security-feature-enablement rule provided for the legacyapplication by a security vendor; executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule provided by the security vendor toupdate the legacy application to take advantage of the existing securityfeature provided by the operating system, wherein executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises injecting an instruction intothe legacy application's code that calls the existing security featureprovided by the operating system; automatically determining, using atleast one module provided by the security vendor, health-impactinformation that identifies the impact of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy applicationby: performing a first health evaluation prior to executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule; after executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, performing a second health evaluation;relaying the health-impact information that identifies the impact of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy applicationto a server provided by the security vendor; receiving an instructionfrom the server to disable the security-feature-enablement rule for thelegacy application in response to a determination, based on thehealth-impact information, that the security-feature-enablement rule islikely to decrease at least one of performance and stability of thelegacy application.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises receiving thesecurity-feature-enablement rule from the server.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein automatically determining the health-impact information thatidentifies the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on thehealth of the legacy application comprises using the module provided bythe security vendor to compare the second health evaluation with thefirst health evaluation to determine how the security-feature-enablementrule impacted the health of the legacy application.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising, prior to identifying thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, identifying a request from a user ofthe operating system to opt in to early testing ofsecurity-feature-enablement rules.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting a list to the server that identifies each legacyapplication on the operating system.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe security-feature-enablement rule comprises a particular combinationof security-feature-enablement rules.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: disabling the security-feature-enablement rule for thelegacy application.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises: identifying startup of thelegacy application; retrieving a security configuration for the legacyapplication; enabling the existing security feature in the securityconfiguration, as specified by the security-feature-enablement rule. 9.A computer-implemented method for enabling community-tested securityfeatures for legacy applications, the method comprising: identifying aplurality of client systems; identifying a subset of the plurality ofclient systems that is designated to test security features for at leastone legacy application that has yet to be updated to take advantage ofat least one existing security feature provided by an operating systemon which the legacy application is installed; transmitting asecurity-feature-enablement rule provided for the legacy application bya security vendor to at least one client system in the subset, whereinthe security-feature-enablement rule injects an instruction into thelegacy application's code that calls the existing security featureprovided by the operating system; receiving, from the client system inthe subset, automatically generated health-impact information thatidentifies the impact of the security-feature-enablement rule on thehealth of the legacy application on the client system, the health-impactinformation comprising: a first health evaluation performed prior toexecuting the security-feature-enablement rule; a second healthevaluation performed after executing the security-feature-enablementrule; determining, based on the automatically generated health-impactinformation, whether to roll out the security-feature-enablement rule tothe plurality of client systems; transmitting an instruction to disablethe security-feature-enablement rule for the legacy application inresponse to a determination, based on the health-impact information,that the security-feature-enablement rule is likely to decrease at leastone of performance and stability of the legacy application.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: determining that thesecurity-feature-enablement rule did not negatively impact the health ofthe legacy application; initiating a staged roll-out of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to the plurality of client systems. 11.The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, from at least oneadditional client system within the plurality of client systems,automatically generated health-impact information for thesecurity-feature-enablement rule; determining that thesecurity-feature-enablement rule negatively impacted the health of thelegacy application on the additional client system; aborting the stagedroll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule.
 12. The method ofclaim 10, wherein initiating the staged roll-out comprises increasingdistribution of the security-feature-enablement rule by increments inmultiple stages until the distribution encompasses the plurality ofclient systems.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises a particular combination ofsecurity-feature-enablement rules.
 14. The method of claim 9, whereinthe automatically generated health-impact information comprises: aperformance index containing results for at least one performancemetric; a stability index containing results for at least one stabilitymetric.
 15. A system for enabling community-tested security features forlegacy applications, the system comprising at least one centralprocessing unit configured to execute a client module programmed to:identify a legacy application that has yet to be updated to takeadvantage of at least one existing security feature provided by anoperating system on which the legacy application is installed; identifya security-feature-enablement rule provided for the legacy applicationby a security vendor; execute the security-feature-enablement ruleprovided by the security vendor to update the legacy application to takeadvantage of the existing security feature provided by the operatingsystem, wherein executing the security-feature-enablement rule comprisesinjecting an instruction into the legacy application's code that callsthe existing security feature provided by the operating system;automatically determine health-impact information that identifies theimpact of the security-feature-enablement rule on the health of thelegacy application by: performing a first health evaluation prior toexecuting the security-feature-enablement rule; after executing thesecurity-feature-enablement rule, performing a second health evaluation;relay the health-impact information that identifies the impact of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy applicationto a server provided by the security vendor; receive an instruction fromthe server to disable the security-feature-enablement rule for thelegacy application in response to a determination, based on thehealth-impact information, that the security-feature-enablement rule islikely to decrease at least one of performance and stability of thelegacy application.
 16. The system of claim 15, further comprising aserver module programmed to: identify a plurality of client systems;identify a subset of the plurality of client systems that is designatedto test security features for legacy applications; transmit thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to at least one client system in thesubset; receive, from the client system in the subset, the automaticallydetermined health-impact information that identifies the impact of thesecurity-feature-enablement rule on the health of the legacy applicationon the client system; determine, based on the automatically determinedhealth-impact information, whether to roll out thesecurity-feature-enablement rule to the plurality of client systems. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein the server module is further programmedto: determine that the security-feature-enablement rule did notnegatively impact the health of the legacy application; initiate astaged roll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule to the pluralityof client systems.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the server moduleis further programmed to: receive, from at least one additional clientsystem within the plurality of client systems, automatically generatedhealth-impact information for the security-feature-enablement rule;determine that the security-feature-enablement rule negatively impactedthe health of the legacy application on the additional client system;abort the staged roll-out of the security-feature-enablement rule. 19.The system of claim 17, wherein the staged roll-out comprises increasingdistribution of the security-feature-enablement rule by increments inmultiple stages until the distribution encompasses the plurality ofclient systems.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein thesecurity-feature-enablement rule comprises a particular combination ofsecurity-feature-enablement rules.